Moving from scarcity to abundance

From 8000ft the desert floor of the Sahel, is a magnificent sight, mile after mile of undulating golden sands broken only by occasional streaks of bleached sand and rock.

A distant line separates the horizon from the huge blue cathedral like expanse overhead. No trees, no bushes, no animals, no visible movement or growth, a complete lack of life. Three weeks later flying over the same area to my surprise I spot a small lake that had appeared in the sand. I knew from the Hydrology of Chad that there are huge reserves of water, usually deep underground but at times it breaks through to the surface. It was amazing to see crystal clear water in areas that seemed to have scarcity yet now had abundance. The water had always been there it just needed bringing to the surface…

With God there is more than enough, there is abundance.

Some of the most generous people I have ever met had so little, with no obvious reserves at all, with little chance of finding resources to pay for unexpected medical or education bills or help out in family emergencies and yet they navigate life with a sense of expectation that God will provide and look after them, sharing what they have. Perhaps you have met folk who are the opposite never seeming to have enough, their conversation often revolves around costs & expense, judging people’s achievements by their earnings or how large their house is and so on. Wisdom and our responsibility do say plan, save, prepare for the future but not at the expense of being generous. Care needs to be taken that you do not take on values that say that you are responsible for everything at the expense of trusting God as provider and as the one who gives wisdom. We are called to be joyful and generous and live from a place of abundance.

I remember meeting an East German soon after the Berlin wall fell. She found that whenever she went into a German super market she always had to load her basket to the absolute brim, it cost her more than she could afford but she was always fearful that the next time she came to the supermarket it would be empty. Her head was saying of course there will be more stock but her heart was thinking what if…

Change the way we think

If you struggle with lack and scarcity why not consider changing the way you think? There is a core value that we are asked to reflect, it is to be generous like our Father, by that we mean our heavenly Father. Remember when we first encountered Jesus he was asking us to change the way we think and he is asking it again (Romans 12:1-3) to be transformed and one of the core values is to be generous. It is very hard to be generous if we always think that we never have enough i.e. that we have lack.

The Genius of Generosity

I hope you will see with me that cultivating our hearts to be Generous, so we move from perceiving our world as being one of lack, shortage and scarcity, to seeing our world as one of abundance. It amazing, & wonderful that with a heart of Generosity we can bless others, resist jealousy and live as humankind was meant to live, as a people of boundless blessing.

Imagine if you woke up every morning and declared to the day ahead:

1. I am blessed to be a blessing.
2. I have more than enough to sow into the Kingdom of God.
3. In every area of my life I live in abundance.
4. I overflow with delight as I generously give to the Lord and to others.
5. I have a unique ability to know when God is highlighting someone I should bless generously with time, money or another resource.
6. When others are generous towards me, I receive it with gladness.
   
   

Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope

Romans 15:13

As his disciples we are called to demonstrate that there is more than enough by bringing God’s generosity to the surface.